Such a device has been known from German Offenlegungsschrift No. DE-OS 38,14,332. The cartridge consists of an electrically nonconductive sleeve which contains the material, consisting of a liquid or powder, that decomposes into a low-molecular-weight gas, and which contains the projectile, which also forms the muzzle-side electrode. To achieve this, the projectile is connected via a wire to a contact at the muzzle of the firing tube and has a cup-shaped design in order to gather the wire during firing. As a result, the projectile has an aerodynamically highly unfavorable shape. Handling is also made difficult by the fact that the wire has to be fixed and contacted at the tube muzzle. Furthermore, only a relatively thin wire, which consequently has a relatively high electrical resistance, can be gathered with the cup-shaped projectile.
According to West German Offenlegungsschrift No. DE-OS 38,16,300, one end of the current conductor, which extends through the bottom of the cartridge, strikes the muzzle-side end face of the combustion chamber housing. This type of contacting also leads to a high electrical resistance.